• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Another Carbon Question

This is an image of the ring after multiple cleanings and shows the last bit of carbon. Thanks for all the suggestions. Plan to soak for a while and use an oversize brush then a brush with patch. If needed I will use another round of Thorro Clean. I did measure where the ring is and tried to stay off the lands as much as possible. As you can see the ring is right at the lands.
 

Attachments

  • 1738777604137.jpeg
    1738777604137.jpeg
    152 KB · Views: 95
This is an image of the ring after multiple cleanings and shows the last bit of carbon. Thanks for all the suggestions. Plan to soak for a while and use an oversize brush then a brush with patch. If needed I will use another round of Thorro Clean. I did measure where the ring is and tried to stay off the lands as much as possible. As you can see the ring is right at the lands.
My rings are on the chamber side, opposite yours.
 
This is an image of the ring after multiple cleanings and shows the last bit of carbon. Thanks for all the suggestions. Plan to soak for a while and use an oversize brush then a brush with patch. If needed I will use another round of Thorro Clean. I did measure where the ring is and tried to stay off the lands as much as possible. As you can see the ring is right at the lands.
Ah! This is exactly where my carbon rings show up. And, you can see the ring beginning to 'break up' - ie., it's not completely solid.

I think I don't see the carbon rings show up on the chamber side because I use a chamber brush each time [I'm using an AR] and I always clean after each session.
 
Ah! This is exactly where my carbon rings show up. And, you can see the ring beginning to 'break up' - ie., it's not completely solid.

I think I don't see the carbon rings show up on the chamber side because I use a chamber brush each time [I'm using an AR] and I always clean after each session.
When I was shooting this rifle back then I used Federal Gold Match 175. I still have the brass and when chamber checked and using a borescope I could see the brass was up to the freebore. Looks like this probably caused that carbon ring. I just was not cleaning properly then. Using a borescope has been a great tool for evaluating cleaning procedures.
 
Again, a bronze brush chucked on a short rod and spun by a drill will take care of it. The lands of your barrel are far harder than the bronze brush and sounds like a well worn barrel anyway. This could be gone in 5 minutes.
 
A Picture of a 5/8-24 Tap I regularly use to clean the carbon out of the threads of
muzzle breaks that build up just in front of the muzzle.
It does not seem to adversely effect the tap in any way
And yes I feel it crunch as it bulldozes through the hard carbon
----
Using a Chamber reamer may not sound like a great idea with how expensive they are
However, if going slow and lightly I imagine you could feel it shave the carbon out
which would be a more finesse operation than what I do with this tap which is
Basically Bulldozing the carbon out with head on brute force
The tips of the flutes look nice and sharp still here
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3682.jpg
    IMG_3682.jpg
    49.9 KB · Views: 38
Last edited:
This is an image of the ring after multiple cleanings and shows the last bit of carbon. Thanks for all the suggestions. Plan to soak for a while and use an oversize brush then a brush with patch. If needed I will use another round of Thorro Clean. I did measure where the ring is and tried to stay off the lands as much as possible. As you can see the ring is right at the lands.
THESE types of carbon rings are hard to get rid of.

Unless this is a 0 freebore chamber, it is a perfect example of not having enough freebore diameter and therefore it causes issues with a little build up. I’ve had a couple form in this area and it can give you problems when measuring your lands.
I’ve had them like this about 2” farther down the bore that caused pressure problems that caused accuracy issues.

The ones IN the chamber are bad enough but if you stay on top of it and clean it when you clean the barrel, easy enough to get it. What I’ve had the best results with cleaning the neck has been C4. (I’ve tried this process with other cleaners and it didn’t work near as well) I start my cleaning process with a pistol rod with a 22 caliber montana extreme plastic brush, take a 3” patch and soak the middle of it with C4, stick it in the chamber and turn it to get everything wet. Pull it out, stick the bore guide in, wipe the muzzle with that same 3” patch. I then run wet patches, bronze brush, let it soak a couple minutes. Then pull the bore guide and use a one size over bore bronze brush and spin it left to right until it unthreads itself and then just to the right a few more turns. Follow that with a 22 cal Iosso brush wrapped in a 3” patch and doused in Ronsonol. This will come out black on the end and if the brush I put down the bore is ready to replace it will pick up a bunch of shedded bristles. With this process (that takes way longer for me to describe than to do) my necks stay clean as they can be.
 
A Picture of a 5/8-24 Tap I regularly use to clean the carbon out of the threads of
muzzle breaks that build up just in front of the muzzle.
It does not seem to adversely effect the tap in any way
And yes I feel it crunch as it bulldozes through the hard carbon
----
Using a Chamber reamer may not sound like a great idea with how expensive they are
However, if going slow and lightly I imagine you could feel it shave the carbon out
which would be a more finesse operation than what I do with this tap which is
Basically Bulldozing the carbon out with head on brute force
The tips of the flutes look nice and sharp still here
I wouldn't run a good knife edge over a rock. There are methods to remove carbon from a barrel that don't involve a chamber reamer.
And besides, unless you have the exact reamer used to cut your chamber, you've no idea what the result will be.

I'll leave my reamers out of my cleaning regimen.
 
I wouldn't run a good knife edge over a rock. There are methods to remove carbon from a barrel that don't involve a chamber reamer.
And besides, unless you have the exact reamer used to cut your chamber, you've no idea what the result will be.

I'll leave my reamers out of my cleaning regimen.
Lol, no I agree, just was posting my own experience with removing carbon with a HSS tool.
And quite honestly is really all I bought that particular Tap for is removing carbon and chasing threads.
But noticed it has not hurt the Tap so far. It may at some point.
I think I would try every other method before chancing putting a Chamber reamer in there as a last resort
Worst case, Manson can resharpen the reamer.
Honestly if I were going to go that far, I'd cut the barrel back and just rechamber
 
Last edited:
I set barrels back on a regular bases, and what ever is in there doesn’t seem to bother the reamer at all.

But then, these are all short range Benchrest Rifles. We clean them way more than most
Same, I don't think any of my rifles go more than 50 rounds without being cleaned.
So again there I wouldnt know what sort of hardness any carbon would become with for instance 300 rounds between cleanings.
 
Back in the old days the method was patches and soaking, bronze brushes, Hoppes, Sweets, GM Top Engine Cleaner, etc. When the patches would come out clean you knew the barrel was clean. Or so we thought. Affordable borescopes opened a lot eyes to reality.
Back in the "real old days" no one ever heard of a "carbon ring", at least in my area. They just cleaned their rifle with a Hoppe's 9 and a bronze brush on a regular basis then used the rifles.

I never heard of one either when I was in the Army back in early 70's, even when shooting on the Post Pistol Team surrounded with Army Armorers and later in civil competitive shooting.

I guess us "real old days guys" were wrong regardless of the results on target and in the field.

I thought I have heard everything but using a reamer to remove a "carbon ring" is a new one. It's good to see that one can never really contemplate everything. It does make the world an interesting place. ;)

Good ahead and blast me, I've asked for it. ;)
 
Yeas ago, removing a carbon ring from a 22 lr chamber, a smith made a brass cutter to address this carbon at the end of the neck. He addressed this carbon build-up by manufacturing a custom brass tooth cutter. the cutter was sized to clean the neck area right up to the 90 degree shoulder at the end of the chamber neck.
A copy of the reamer print would be necessary to size the cutter appropriatel.
 
Back in the "real old days" no one ever heard of a "carbon ring", at least in my area. They just cleaned their rifle with a Hoppe's 9 and a bronze brush on a regular basis then used the rifles.

I never heard of one either when I was in the Army back in early 70's, even when shooting on the Post Pistol Team surrounded with Army Armorers and later in civil competitive shooting.

I guess us "real old days guys" were wrong regardless of the results on target and in the field.

I thought I have heard everything but using a reamer to remove a "carbon ring" is a new one. It's good to see that one can never really contemplate everything. It does make the world an interesting place. ;)

Good ahead and blast me, I've asked for it. ;)
I have bottles of Hoppes #9 from way back going on through now
The formulation has changed throughout the years to its now watered down version.
Originally it had a small amount of Ammonia and listed it in it's ingredients so likely acted a little like Sweets
 
Boyd Allen has gone to great lengths to attempt to explain how barrel carbon deposits are not all the same. I find his opinion completely aligned with mine. Rather than rehash the subject, I invite anyone who is interested to search out his posts.
 
l have read all the previous threads on carbon cleaning and adjusted my cleaning procedure. At this point the barrel looks really good except for one very stubborn place. There is a small ring before the freebore that I am still working on. Most of the ring has been removed but this small little dark black ring.

I have seen some differing opinions about soaking overnight.

What is the best to use for overnight soaking for that last stubborn bit? Will it really help?

Thanks
jelenko said that soaking a barrel might not help. Possibly. I can't see that it could hurt to do it and you aren't wasting any time actively doing anything. It might be best to plug the barrel strategically, then fill that part of the barrel with SeaFoam, then let it work. Some people I know have said it really worked on carbon for them. After soaking, bronze bore brushing it might get it to yield. Hopefully, before that, SeaFoam can soften, loosen or remove it. Even getting it to do a little of those before brushing could be a big head start. I am a big proponent of using chemistry to do the work. A lot of times it does alot, sometimes not.

Danny
 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
166,786
Messages
2,224,009
Members
79,861
Latest member
srak
Back
Top